


Ride Along

by DetectiveRiley (RavenWhitecastle)



Series: Geralt is Soft TM [4]
Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Caretaking, Gen, Injury, Jaskier is a klutz, Short & Sweet, Sprains, geralt is SOFT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29387520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenWhitecastle/pseuds/DetectiveRiley
Series: Geralt is Soft TM [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064864
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Ride Along

Jaskier had lost track of how long they’d been traveling, with Geralt on horseback and Jaskier on foot. It had been at least an hour given how many songs he’d run through, including his vocal warm-ups. Geralt, to his credit, hadn’t said anything, except to grunt affirmatively when Jaskier asked if “Posada” rhymed with “nirvana.” Since then, he’d started working on a new song. The second verse was done, and he was practicing it, with gusto.

_ “Am I still in Posada? _

_ I’d say so by the fashion _

_ But it feels like nirvana _

_ In the throes of pa-” _

He was cut off abruptly, as his foot fell into a dip in the road and he pitched forward to the ground. His lute made a horrendous sound on impact, and he yelped as pain shot up his leg. 

Roach whinnied as Geralt reined her in, pivoting to look at Jaskier splayed out on the ground. “What the fuck?”

“Oh, like you’ve never tripped and eaten shit,” Jaskier muttered, wincing.

“I haven’t,” Geralt replied with a chuckle, “Not on thin air. You all right?” 

“I’m more worried about my lute!” Jas exclaimed, holding the instrument up to the light. “Oh, she’s scratched, Geralt, look!”

Geralt wasn’t looking. He was dismounting Roach and approaching Jas, glaring at him from above. “Never mind your lute, we can get it repaired when we make it to town, but we have to make it before nightfall.”

Jas nodded begrudgingly, before flailing at Geralt to help him up. Rolling his eyes, Geralt yanked Jas to his feet, only to have the bard tumble forward into his arms with a cry. 

“What now?”

“My ankle…” Jaskier lifted his leg with a pained gasp, examining his foot. The skin above it was already starting to bruise. He barely tested it on the ground before pulling it back up. “I turned it harder than I thought.”

Geralt got on one knee to examine it, with Jaskier leaning on him for support. Jaskier would have made a joke about it if he hadn’t been so worried. He winced as Geralt poked and prodded, swallowing a whimper now and then. 

“It’s not broken, as far as I can tell,” Geralt announced, “but there’s no way you can walk all the way there with it. You’ll have to ride Roach.”

Jaskier blinked, his mouth flapping. Geralt had already turned his back to adjust the stirrup on Roach’s saddle. 

“Wha- I- but you  _ never _ let me ride Roach.” Jaskier managed at long last, "You never even let me touch her.”

Geralt shrugged. “I don’t see that I have much choice. I’m not going to carry you.” Before Jaskier could reply with something witty, Geralt was on his knee again with his fingers laced together as a foothold. “Come on then, before I change my mind.”

Jaskier swallowed. “He’d been treated to a few rounds around the paddock on the back of a donkey in Lettenhove, but Roach was considerably larger, and much more intimidating. “You don’t think she’ll mind?” he murmured, tugging at his collar. 

“She’s not going to buck you off,” Geralt assured him, before adding, “Not unless I tell her to.”

The smirk behind Geralt’s eyes only made Jaskier feel marginally better, but he squared his shoulders and approached Roach anyway. She huffed softly as he reached out to pet her neck. “Nice horsey…”

“Grab the horn up there before you step up,” Geralt instructed, nodding towards the front of the saddle, “Pull yourself up and swing your leg over at the same time, got it?”

Thanks to Geralt’s directions, Jaskier managed to get into the saddle on the first try, albeit awkwardly with a rush of pain from moving his injured ankle so abruptly. His ankle was quickly forgotten, however, when he realized how high up he was. 

“W-woah,” he stammered, gripping the horn with white knuckles, “Is this what your view is like all the time?”

Geralt chuckled. “Almost. It’s missing the flash of your colorful clothes.”

Jaskier blushed, smiling lightly. “No, I’ve just got your white hair instead, as bright as a beacon to guide me home.”

Geralt growled but said nothing. Instead, he simply grabbed the leads of Roach’s bridle and led her forward. Jaskier lurched with the sudden movement, swaying with the steady left right motion of Roach’s haunches.

“I do know how to ride, you know, “Jaskier huffed indignantly. 

“You might,” Geralt acknowledged, “But I don’t trust anyone else to steer. Besides, I’m not sure she’d listen to you anyway.”

Jaskier crossed his arms, until something occurred to him. “You mean I have my hands free, to do other things?” With a flourish, he swung his lute around from behind his back and strummed a chord.

Geralt sighed. “You could. But do you have to?”

“I must! What kind of bard would I be if I didn’t serenade the savior who rescued me from being consumed by buzzards?” Strumming again, he started improvising a line from what he was sure would be his next hit. “Oh valiant hero, upon the noblest of steeds…”

Roach tossed her head, whinnying softly, and Jaskier laughed. “I think she likes it!”

Smirking, Geralt hummed. “Or she’s calling you a tosser.”

“Hey!”


End file.
